Players and supporters from the South London Sunday League will look back on the 2014 season with pride after winning the Surrey CCC inter-league tournament at the Kia Oval.

Much credit went the Surrey Board for laying on a memorable day for eight league representative teams at a venue with such prestige. South London Sunday won all their four games and emerged as champions in their first appearance, led by Larry Farnum, of the league's 2014 champions Sabina CC.

It was generally accepted that the debut leagues – South London Sunday and British Tamil – raised the standard of play, with the 2014 winners Surrey Championship pushed down into fourth place. The other competitors were Fullers Brewery, L’Anson, Surrey Downs, Village and Surrey Cricket.

Jigs Chana, secretary of South London Sunday League, praised the organisers for arranging an event that drew supporters and clearly increased the feel-good factor for the recreational sector. “What our players and our supporters experienced was a thoroughly good day out both in its organisation and in the manner in which all teams played their cricket – competitive, hard but fair. This was much appreciated by all of us.”

For their 10-strong squad South London Sunday drew on players from Sabina, Burgess Park, Mostyn, Robinson Lakeside, SDA, Epic, West Indies United and KSC. The runners-up were L'Anson and third were British Tamil.

The competition rules required each league to provide 10 players, with nine playing each match and the 10th acting as scorer if necessary. Each innings comprised five eight-ball overs. Wides and no-balls counted as three runs and no extra ball except in the last over. Each bowler was restricted to one over with a maximum run-up of 16 yards. The three non-bowlers must occupy the first three places in the batting order. Batsmen must retire on reaching 25 but may bat again if all the other wickets have fallen before the end of the allotted overs. No overseas players are allowed unless resident in the UK for minimum 12 months.

The inter-league event provided a bridge between the professional and amateur game, and Surrey should be congratulated on this initiative. The competing teams enjoyed a memorable outing, and comments by the British Tamils Cricket League perhaps reflected the broad reaction. 'Thusha' Thushaarah, registration and development secretary, commented: “The event has created huge popularity among Tamil community, as there are an estimated 300,000 living in the UK. We enjoyed the games, and all our players eagerly looking forward 2015.”

Graeme Howgate, secretary of the Fuller's League, added: “I know our representative players were hugely enthused and thankful for having the opportunity to play on the hallowed turf. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.”